Sunday, October 31, 2010

We dare not demean this holy trust

Yesterday, October 30, 2010, was the 275th birthday of Founder and 2nd U.S. President, John Adams. Almost one year to the day before he added his signature to the Declaration of Independence, on July 7, 1775, John Adams penned these sobering words in a three-page letter to his beloved Abigail:

Your Description of the Distresses of the worthy Inhabitants of Boston, and the other Sea Port Towns, is enough to melt an Heart of stone. Our Consolation must be this, my dear, that Cities may be rebuilt, and a People reduced to Poverty, may acquire fresh Property: But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever. When the People once surrender their share in the Legislature, and their Right of defending the Limitations upon the Government, and of resisting every Encroachment upon them, they can never regain it.” [italics mine]

Our right to vote as American citizens is a gift bestowed by Almighty God; but it is more than a right or a privilege. Jesus said, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:48) The right to vote is also a holy trust given each of us by a righteous God who holds us accountable for our stewardship of that right. As an ordained minister and former pastor of five years myself, I am confident that clergy who neglect their duty to teach their flocks proper stewardship of the right and duty to vote will suffer stricter judgment.

Most of us could not tell how many times we have uttered Jesus’ words in “the Lord’s Prayer,” “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” And yet for some of us, our voting habits undermine the answer to that prayer. We demean our vote when we vote for candidates who favor unrighteous causes such as abortion or same sex unions. We must not treat voting as an optional, inconsequential, or unnecessary exercise or God will withdraw the privilege.

The Book of Proverbs tells us that “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34) With so much, indeed, our liberty at stake in Tuesday’s election, it is unthinkable that any able-bodied Christian would not vote, much less vote for unprincipled candidates or candidates who support expansion of government’s role in our personal lives. If we exalt ungodly men by our vote, it reproaches Christ and debases His Church.

Charles G. Finney, a prominent Second Great Awakening preacher, said the following about a Christian’s vote,

“[T]he time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them ... Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently ... Christians seem to act as if they thought God did not see what they do in politics. But I tell you He does see it - and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course they [Christians] take [in politics].”

Renowned Civil War era abolitionist leader, orator, writer, and statesman, the Rev. Frederick Douglas, himself a freed slave, characterized his political views thus:

“I have one great political idea … The best expression of it, I have found in the Bible. It is … ‘Righteous exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people.’ This constitutes my politics, and the whole of my politics. The negative and positive of my politics.”

Wall Builders' website (http://www.wallbuilders.com) succinctly spells out guiding principles for the Christian voter, indeed, for any patriotic American citizen who is committed to the Founders’ ideals as enumerated in America’s Founding Documents. Please watch the “Voter Responsibilities” video linked on the website’s homepage and if you are a pastor, please show the video in your church service(s) tomorrow.

Will our vote on Tuesday count for righteousness and preserve our right to choose our future leaders, or will it be the our last that really counts? America hangs in the balance and this vote will be a referendum on the Church and its leaders.

About Me

"The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer."

"The children of Issachar ... were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do."

"And Joses ... by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is, being interpreted, The son of encouragement."